Registration for YHS Walk for the Animals continues

Courtesy

Hula won second place in last year’s Magic 99.1 Strut Your Mutt contest for the “Best Dressed” category at the Walk for the Animals! She and eight other dogs took home beautiful trophies provided by Raskin’s Jewelers. Join the 2016 Walk for the Animals on May 14 to participate in the Magic 99.1 Strut Your Mutt contest and many other PAW-some activities.

PRESCOTT – Yavapai Humane Society invites animal lovers far and wide to its Fifth Annual Walk for the Animals on Saturday, May 14, at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott.

The event is a 1-mile and 5K walk intended to raise awareness for animal welfare, bring together animal supporters in our community. YHS is hoping to fundraise $40,000 through the event to support its lifesaving programs, which care for more than 3,000 animals each year.

Hundreds of dogs are expected to bring their people out to this region’s premier pet lover’s event to stroll or run the 1-mile and 5K course and enjoy fun activities, which will be available through noon for all on four paws and two legs:

• Strut Your Mutt contest, where contestants can enter to win first, second, or third place prize in any of three categories: “Best costume,” “Best trick,” or the “Owner look-alike” categories

• Attempt at setting the Guinness World Record for most dogs wearing identical bandanas at once

• Canine Good Citizen testing

• Agility course and rally ring for dogs to practice new skills

• A kids’ corner with face painting, a bounce house, and cotton candy

• YHS Thrift Store’s pet boutique featuring all things dog and cat

Registration for the event is now open at www.yavapaihumane.org/walkfortheanimals. Event tickets for adults age 18 and older are $20, tickets for children 12-18 are $10; children age 11 and younger walk for free. Participants can form a walking team and receive a fundraising page to help YHS collect donations.

The event gates open at 7 a.m. and the opening howl for the 1-mile and 5K courses is at 8 a.m. Those who cannot attend the event but still want to help can raise money and save lives for YHS at its online fundraising page.

All proceeds benefit the Yavapai Humane Society, which saved more than 3,200 homeless pets in our community last year. In 2016 it will open an equine program in Chino Valley to rescue, rehabilitate, and adopt horses as well.

YHS provides many life-saving programs to keep pets safe and with their families. Its “No-Kill Ethic” means that animals are given a chance to find their forever homes. Its 97 percent live release rate is one of the highest, not only in Arizona, but the nation. As a private nonprofit, YHS is not affiliated with any other agency or national organization.